Japan breaches international cap on annual Pacific bluefin catches

[sergel]

This popped up on my feed today and I found it interesting since it's something I never heard much about. 
 
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/04/28/national/japan-exceeds-annual-international-limit-pacific-tuna-catches/#.WQrnJdLyuMo
 

The government said Thursday that Japan has exceeded the annual limit on its catches of immature Pacific bluefin tuna, breaking an international commitment only two years after the regulation was introduced.

The domestic catch of the threatened fish, a popular choice for sushi and other Japanese dishes, reached 4,008 tons on Thursday, topping the cap of 4,007 tons for the year through June, the Fisheries Agency said in a preliminary report.

Japan and other members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission adopted quotas for the fish in 2015.
Japan has caught more bluefin in the Pacific this year than any other nation, and its breach of the limit is likely to trigger criticism from other countries.

The agency said the result was due to unusually large catches in western Japan as well as tuna inadvertently caught in nets fixed for other species of fish.

The excess catch for the year will be deducted from next year’s quota.

 

After doing a little bit of digging I found some background info on the issue.

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/24/japan-criticised-exceed-bluefin-tuna-fishing-quota?CMP=share_btn_fb

 

 

Conservation groups have called on Japan to abide by international agreements to curb catches of Pacific bluefin tuna after reports said the country was poised to exceed an annual quota two months early – adding to pressure on stocks that have already reached dangerously low levels.

Japan, by far the world’s biggest consumer of Pacific bluefin, has caused “great frustration†with its failure to abide by catch quotas intended to save the species from commercial extinction, said Amanda Nickson, the director of global tuna conservation at Pew Charitable Trusts.

“Just a few years of overfishing will leave Pacific bluefin tuna vulnerable to devastating population reductions,†Nickson said in Tokyo on Monday. “That will threaten not just the fish but also the fishermen who depend on them.â€

In 2015, Japan and other members of the Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission agreed to curtail catches of immature bluefin, halving the catch of fish under 30kg from the average caught between 2002 and 2004.Decades of overfishing have left the Pacific bluefin population at just 2.6% of its historical high, and campaigners say Japan must take the lead at a summit in South Korea this summer.

But Japanese media reported last week that the country would reach its catch limit for younger tuna for the year through to June two months early.

Some fisheries workers have ignored the restrictions, aware that they will not be punished and can fetch premium prices for Pacific bluefin in Japan, where it is regarded as an important part of the country’s culinary heritage.

Campaigners support the fisheries commission’s aim of rebuilding stocks to at least 20% of unfished levels by 2034 – a target Nickson said was “realistic and attainableâ€. She said further inaction could revive calls for a two-year commercial moratorium on catching Pacific bluefin.

“No country in the world cares more about the future of tuna than Japan,†she said. “Japan can take the lead, but it must start by committing itself to the 20% rebuilding plan.â€

If that fails, she added, “then a full commercial moratorium could be the only feasible course of actionâ€.

Aiko Yamauchi, the leader of the oceans and seafood group for WWF Japan, said it was time to penalise fishermen who violated catch quotas. “The quotas should be mandatory, not voluntary,†Yamauchi said. “That’s why the current agreement hasn’t worked.â€

About 80% of the global bluefin catch is consumed in Japan, where it is served raw as sashimi and sushi. A piece of otoro â€“ a fatty cut from the fish’s underbelly – can cost several thousand yen at high-end restaurants in Tokyo.

 

[Kazaewin]

Their appetite is going to drive some species into extinction. 

[holahuz]

Their appetite is going to drive some species into extinction. 

 

on studies, in few years if salmon consumption gets more higher. it will be one of the first human known fish that will be extinct. 

[JiMiJu]

Save the fishies.

[sergel]

on studies, in few years if salmon consumption gets more higher. it will be one of the first human known fish that will be extinct. 

hmm this is news to me, though it doesn't shock me. I'll have to look into some papers on it.